Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the comments by Doctor Lu for Minzu Hospital in China in the report by David Mata and David Kilgour Bloody Harvest: the killing of Falun Gong for their organs, published on 31 January 2007, that organs were forcibly taken from healthy Falun Gong practitioners, normally in their thirties, who were unaware that their organs would be removed.

We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted.

We consider the Kilgour, Gutmann and Matas report to be important sources of information about China’s organ transplant system. These reports rightly question the lack of transparency in China’s organ transplant system, whilst acknowledging that it is very difficult to identify the source of those organs and verify the number of organ transplants conducted in China.

However, as the Minister for Europe and the Americas said in a Westminster Hall debate in October 2016: “Although I do not doubt the need to maintain close scrutiny of organ transplant practices in China, we believe that the evidence base is not sufficiently strong to substantiate claims about the systematic harvesting of organs from minority groups. Indeed, based on all the evidence available to us, we cannot conclude that this practice of “organ harvesting” is definitely happening in China.”

The World Health Organisation (WHO) collates global data on organ donations and works with China. The WHO view is that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards, although the WHO does have concerns about overall transparency.

The British Government is aware of the technique to plastinate human bodies exported from China for exhibition and for medical research. We have not made inquiries with the Chinese government or Dalian Hoffen Bio-Technique Co. Ltd on this matter, but continue to monitor media coverage.

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